Lists of which airports have installed the controversial backscatter screening devices are one thing, but they’re not actually super-useful. An airport might have the screener on site, but that doesn’t mean they’re actually “backscatting” with it. It could be gathering dust or just for hanging coats on.

The TSA Status site is collecting reports from passengers and maintaining an updated color-coded database to show if the different airports that have the backscatters are really using them.

If it’s green, there was no visible backscatter or radiation machine. If it’s red, there is such a machine in use for all passengers. The colors in between represent a gradient scale escalating from no use to maximal use.

So if backscatter devices are something you care about, this site may come in handy when you’re making your travel arrangements. You can also participate when you travel by reporting in what you see about backscatter use by emailing tsastatus@gmail.com or tweeting @tsastatus.

TSA Status [via Lifehacker]

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